Indian officials say that current fertilizer inventories are plentiful, including urea, DAP, potash and NPKs, according to a report in the Business Standard, citing Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers D.V. Sadananda Gowda. He also stated that there is currently no proposal at present to decrease the amount of subsidies on fertilizers. In addition, there is no proposal to fix a Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) for urea and thereby decontrol the price of urea in the market.

The Fertilizer Institute said June 25 that a leadership transition is underway after the announcement that TFI President and CEO Chris Jahn has been selected to serve as the President and CEO of the American Chemistry Council (ACC). To ensure a smooth transition, Jahn will continue to lead TFI until late October.

TFI’s Executive Committee will establish a Search Committee that will operate under the leadership of TFI Board Chairman Tony Will. On behalf of TFI’s Board of Directors, I extend my thanks to Chris for his work on our industry’s behalf,” said Will. “TFI staff is dedicated to serving our industry and we anticipate continued excellence during the transition and beyond on our agenda to help feed the world in a safe and sustainable manner.”

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) announced June 25 that Christopher L. Jahn has been selected to become its next president and CEO, effective late October 2019. Jahn currently serves as President and CEO of The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) and will succeed Cal Dooley who has led ACC since 2008. Dooley announced his retirement in April, 2018.

The much-anticipated MMTC urea tender will close July 1 with shipment by Aug. 16. Depending on the offered prices, MMTC could take as much as 1 million mt. Validity on the offers is to be effective through Aug. 8.

Itafos, Toronto, said June 20 that it has signed a multi-year phosphate rock supply agreement with OCP Group. The rock will go to supply the Itafos Arraias phosphate facility in Brazil. The Arraias facility is in the midst of a repurpose plan, which aims to optimize finished fertilizer production with a multi-product portfolio of higher grade SSP, micronutrient SSP and value added premium PK compound products.

The Stoller Group Inc., Houston, has announced the death of company founder Jerry H. Stoller, 84, on June 19.  He served as Chairman of the Board of Stoller USA Inc. and The Stoller Group Inc.

“All of us are mourning the passing of our company’s founder, Jerry Stoller,” said Stoller Group President Guillermo de la Borda. “Jerry will be remembered as an entrepreneur and a revolutionary pioneer in plant physiology, plant nutrition, and plant hormone technology. He dedicated his life to finding ways to help good things grow.”

Stoller founded Stoller USA Inc. in 1970. Today, the Stoller Group currently employs over 1,000 people and provides its products and services to over 60 countries.

Nutrien Ltd. has announced a potash fill program for third-quarter supply. It includes Midwest terminal reference prices of $290/st FOB and NOLA barge of $265/st.

The order time is from Tuesday, June 18, through to close of business Thursday, June 27, for delivery by Sept. 30. Buyers must be able to receive product by Sept. 30 to qualify. All orders received after June 27 will be priced up $25/st for delivery Oct. 1 forward.

Any orders received for prompt application will remain at spring season prices.

Nutrien said it has tight allocation of supply for the third quarter following its summer mine shutdowns and will close the order book early if it reaches targets earlier than June 27.

The Mosaic Co. said June 18 that it will close its idled Plant City phosphates manufacturing facility in Hillsborough County, Fla. The plant was idled in late 2017 because it was one of the higher cost phosphates facilities in Mosaic’s Florida Operations and due to global phosphate market conditions. “Our decision to close the Plant City phosphate facility reaffirms our commitment to low-cost operation,” said Mosaic President and CEO Joc O’Rourke. During the second quarter, Mosaic expects to recognize a notable non-cash charge of up to $390 million for the permanent closure of the facility, including asset write-offs and an increase of the asset retirement obligation liability.

Libya’s state-oil company The National Oil Corp. (NOC) said June 15 that it will resume gas supplies to the Libyan-Norwegian Fertilizer Co. (Lifeco), which is a nitrogen joint venture with Yara International ASA, Oslo. As a result, production should begin soon.

EuroChem Group AG is delaying the start of commercial production at its Volgakaliy potash operation in Russia’s southern Volgograd region until 2020, according to an Interfax report citing the group’s primary shareholder Andrei Melnichenko. He said the group has come up against “geological problems” that do not affect the final parameters of the project but do affect the timeframe. As late as last November, EuroChem said it was delaying the start of commercial production at Volgakaliy until the first half of 2019.

Meanwhile, EuroChem has approved a 2019 production target at its Usolskiy potash operation south of Berezniki of about 1 million mt, according to the report. The 2.3 million mt/y design capacity is expected to be reached by end-2020.